Wall Street Journal:

United Parcel Service Inc. imposed shipping restrictions on some large retailers such as Gap Inc. and Nike Inc. this week, an early sign that the pandemic-fueled online shopping season is stretching delivery networks to their limits.

The delivery giant on Cyber Monday notified drivers across the U.S. to stop picking up packages at six retailers, including L.L. Bean Inc., Hot Topic Inc., Newegg Inc. and Macy’s Inc., according to an internal message viewed by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by UPS workers in different regions.

And, most importantly:

“No exceptions,” the message said.

To me, this news shows a canary in the coal mine.

We are growing ever more dependent on our delivery services, dramatically more so in these pandemic times. And, clearly, these systems are showing the strain.

One question I have: Will we go back to “normal” when the pandemic ends? Or have we permanently changed our habits, ordering food and groceries rather than leaving the house, eliminating visits to malls and other shopping centers? Brick and mortar shops have clearly been damaged in 2020. Many will not return. What will emerge in their place?

First things first, this exploit has been patched by Apple.

But what I found fascinating about this is the video, showing off the hacker doing their proof of concept thing. As you watch it (video embedded below), imagine being in a hotel room and the hacker being in the room next door. Frightening, no? But also good that Apple has your back here.

Apple:

Apple today presented its App Store Best of 2020 winners, recognizing 15 apps and games that proved to be essential for making life easier, healthier, and more connected this year. Notable for their high quality, creative design, usability, and innovative technology, these apps and games are equally celebrated for their positive cultural impact, helpfulness, and importance.

And:

The independent developer of Wakeout! brought gentle exercise to home offices and classrooms with light-hearted and inclusive movements designed for everyone. Vast fantasy worlds in games like “Genshin Impact,” “Legends of Runeterra,” “Disco Elysium,” “Dandara Trials of Fear,” and Apple Arcade’s “Sneaky Sasquatch” delivered a great escape, while Disney+ offered a sense of unlimited possibility that many craved. Whether it was to facilitate distance learning through Zoom, create daily routines with Fantastical or lull us to sleep with Endel, the App Store Best of 2020 winners helped us live our best lives at home.

Gonna take a look at all of these, both in the hunt for great apps and in the pursuit of great interface/user experience.

The way I read this, this is a way to more quickly pair and connect non-Apple devices to your iPhone, giving them the same insta-connect feel you are used to with AirPods, say.

I’ve not tried this out, but seemed interesting and worth a share.

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

Before purchasing, it’s worth noting that the ‌MagSafe‌ Duo is not able to charge an ‌iPhone 12‌ model at the full 15 watts supported by the standalone ‌MagSafe‌ charger. Instead, it is able to charge at a maximum of 14W when paired with the appropriate charger.

And:

The ‌MagSafe‌ Duo does not ship with a power adapter.

And:

When paired with the 20W USB-C power adapter from Apple, it can charge an iPhone up to 11W, and when paired with a 27W or higher USB-C power adapter, it can charge at the aforementioned 14W.

Did I mention that it’s $129? And if you noticed, the word “charger” is in the product name. But without a separately priced charging brick, it’s not much of a charger.

To be fair, it is very small, and if small is key (you travel a ton, for example), this is a nice solution. But don’t forget a charging brick.

Here’s a link, if the MagSafe Duo Charger calls to you.

As I said here, the MagSafe Duo Charger feels like the Mac Pro wheels of chargers.

CNET:

We know the iPhone 12 can handle spills and splashes, but Apple may be downplaying just how water-resistant this phone really is. The iPhone 12’s IP68 rating means it can survive up to 19.6 feet (6 meters) of water for 30 minutes. This applies to all four iPhone 12 models: the iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. But we discovered that like its predecessor, Apple’s newest iPhone can handle a great deal more than that. Both of the iPhone 11 models far exceeded the official rating, surviving a 39-foot dive in salt water in Monterey Bay, California. This year we took a brand-new iPhone 12 for a swim in the frigid fresh water of Lake Tahoe, on the other side of the Golden State, to test it out.

This is a bit of fun, testing Apple’s iPhone 12 water resistance claims, both at 19.6 feet for 30 minutes, then much deeper for a bit longer.

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. hired Josh Elman, a former venture capitalist at Greylock Partners who led early investments in Discord and the precursor to TikTok, to work on the App Store.

Elman’s role will focus on app discovery for customers, he said in a statement Monday. He’ll step back from investing and the corporate boards that he serves on, which includes the communications app Discord and the blogging site Medium.

To get a sense of Josh Elman, take a read through this Twitter thread, where Josh announces his big news and talks through a bit of his past.

I find it amazing that Apple and Elman came together like this. Always surprised when someone so used to controlling their destiny and money flow goes to work for a big company. And that always brings to mind the billionaire (Steve Ballmer) working for another billionaire (Bill Gates).

Amazon blog:

Over the last couple of years, AWS users have told us that they want to be able to run macOS on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). We’ve asked a lot of questions to learn more about their needs, and today I am pleased to introduce you to the new Mac instance!

And:

Powered by Mac mini hardware and the AWS Nitro System, you can use Amazon EC2 Mac instances to build, test, package, and sign Xcode applications for the Apple platform including macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Safari. The instances feature an 8th generation, 6-core Intel Core i7 (Coffee Lake) processor running at 3.2 GHz, with Turbo Boost up to 4.6 GHz. There’s 32 GiB of memory and access to other AWS services including Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS), Amazon Elastic File System (EFS), Amazon FSx for Windows File Server, Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), AWS Systems Manager, and so forth.

The thing that’s not clear to me is specifics on pricing. I suspect these details will emerge over time.

But if this interests you, definitely spend some time reading:

• This blog post from MacStadium. Note that MacStadium has ordered 600+ M1 Mac minis, as compared to the AWS Intel Coffee Lake machines. Don’t miss the discussion of the new “Leasing for Permitted Developer Services” paragraph added to Apple’s license agreement.

• Also worth reading is the back-and forth comments on Hacker News, with a response from MacStadium’s Brian Stucki.

And, finally:

• Take a read of this thread from Corey Quinn, especially the comment on the relative pricing between MacStadium and AWS macOS instances.

Joe Rossignol, MacRumors:

Apple One includes a 30-day free trial for any services that customers did not already subscribe to individually, and that trial period ends today for those who signed up for Apple One on its first day of availability. Following the end of the trial period, however, some customers are seeing their Apple One subscription listed as expired and/or have been billed individually for services like Apple TV+ and Apple Music that should be rolled into Apple One.

All in all, there are clearly some hiccups going on as Apple One converts from a trial to a standard subscription, so hopefully Apple is able to sort out the issues soon.

My billing is all over the place. I signed up for the Apple One Premier bundle and I am still being charged for all the extras that the bundle is supposed to replace.

My sense is that Apple is going to make all this right over time, without my having to jump through any hoops. So if this is you, have patience, but keep an eye on your subscriptions page, make sure Apple has ultimately balanced your account properly.

Today is World AIDS Day. Apple is all in, with a red homepage, red Apple Store logo and window displays (some great pictures in this 9to5Mac post), a special Apple Music feature and, most importantly:

In 2006, Apple joined (RED)’s mission to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the last 14 years, Apple’s partnership with (RED) has led to almost $250 million in donations for the Global Fund’s HIV/AIDS programs that offer prevention, testing, and counseling services. Since 2006, Apple-supported grants have provided over 10.8 million people with care and support services, helped with distribution of more than 167 million HIV tests, and provided 13.8 million people with ongoing access to life-saving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.

This year, communities around the world are grappling with HIV/AIDS as they also work to respond and protect against COVID-19, particularly for vulnerable populations. COVID-19 has created challenges in accessing care, diagnostics, and supplies, often disrupting crucial HIV/AIDS programs. To alleviate these challenges and ensure continuity in life-saving HIV/AIDS services, Apple’s contributions were redirected to the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response at the onset of the pandemic earlier this year. Thanks in part to support from Apple and Apple customers, the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response has been able to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on the communities most affected by HIV/AIDS and provide critical support in health systems threatened by the COVID-19 outbreak.

And:

Through December 7, Apple is donating $1 for every purchase made with Apple Pay on apple.com, in the Apple Store app, or at an Apple Store to the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response.

Respect.

Came across the linked site this morning on Hacker News. Did some reading, liked it enough to want to share with you.

If you know the basics of chess, spend a few minutes on the site. I’d suggest starting with The Knight Fork.

This section is very easy to read, presented consecutive pages, each focused and short. The whole world of chess is broken down like this. A fascinating exploration.

Om Malik:

It was in early 1998 when I called David Placek. His company, Lexicon Branding, had recently come up with the moniker Pentium for Intel. And nearly a decade earlier, he came up with the name PowerBook, helping to turn Macintosh Portable into a billion-dollar business in its first year.

And:

After early successes with Apple’s PowerBook, Intel’s Pentium, and P&G’s Swiffer, Placek and his team have gone on to work with a number of modern names and startups that will be familiar to most readers. Examples include Sonos and Impossible Foods.

Amazing that these names all originated from the same source. They are all great names and have stood the test of time, or seem well on their way.

This linked post is a quick read, worth your time if you ever have to name anything. The book summary from Om has value, and might lead you to hunt down the book (if you can still find a copy anywhere).

Apple Terminal:

In just under 2 weeks since launch, the M1 powered Mac mini has catapulted Apple to the top rank in the desktop market in Japan by a whopping 14.4%, according to market data by BCN Retail.

Data between August and November 3rd, a little more than a week prior to the launch of the M1 Mac mini shows Apple at around 15% share in the desktop market, behind Lenovo Japan. However, following the launch of the new Mac mini on November 17th, Apple charged forward to a whopping 27.1% market share, a 14.4% increase from just the start of the month.

Looking forward to seeing the first sales reports of Apple Silicon M1 Macs. Anecdotally, they are selling like hotcakes. And there’s plenty of unexplored territory to come: Perhaps an Apple Silicon iMac, or even a Mac Pro with some form of discrete GPU and expandable RAM.

Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:

Apple Fitness+ is slated to launch sometime before the end of 2020, though no exact date has yet been announced. Ahead of the launch, Fitness+ instructors are taking to Instagram to tease that the service is launching “soon” and that they are in the process of recording workouts.

I’ve spent some time with the Peloton workouts, doing things like stretching and running, and really like the experience. There is friction with the service, however. I typically fire up the video I want on my iPhone or iPad, then AirPlay it to my Apple TV. That’s a bit of a pain, but add in the fact that there’s no integration to my Apple Watch.

That friction, theoretically, will go away with Apple’s upcoming Fitness+. And given I’ve already signed up for the Premier Apple One bundle, Fitness+ has the chance to save me the monthly Peloton fee.

Looking forward to taking Fitness+ for a spin.

You know me. I love a good headline.

But that’s (almost) never enough. And this post is a good one. It’s a rollup of tons of public takes on the magic of the M1 Macs. Fun to scroll through, even if you just scan the tweets.

And it’s a pretty great headline.

Jason Snell:

I love Rogue Amoeba’s audio apps and rely on them every day. Audio Hijack is the best. Loopback is a vital tool when I’m streaming video live.

With you on this, Jason. I use Audio Hijack every week to record The Dalrymple Report. It is lightweight, easy to use, and let’s me customize my recording process precisely.

This year, though, Apple made some major changes to how audio on macOS is handled, and that required major changes to ACE, the engine that enables most of Rogue Amoeba’s apps. The company managed to get versions supporting Big Sur out just before the official release of the operating system, and today it posted beta versions that work with M1 Macs.

I wanted to do this week’s podcast from my new M1, but ran into a brick wall trying to run Audio Hijack. It put up a “this won’t work” alert when I launched it. Feh.

But good news on the new M1 beta versions. But, as Jason says, there’s a catch:

There is one big caveat, however, and it’s all down to Apple’s increased focus on security. To install an app like ACE, which requires a system extension to function in Big Sur, you have to reboot. That’s not great—rebooting to install software feels very 1990s to me—but at least it’s palatable.

On M1 Macs, though, the situation intensifies. Before you can reboot to enable ACE, you first have to reboot into Recovery Mode in order to tell the system to allow extensions. Then you have to change a setting from “Full Security” to “Reduced Security,” and check a box allowing kernel extensions from identified developers.

I’ve jumped through these hoops, and they are both intimidating and cryptic. Neither are Rogue Amoeba’s fault. If I want to use Audio Hijack, I have to jump through the cryptic hoops, and trust that it’s OK to accept “reduced security”.

I get it. I just hate that this is where we’ve landed. And, hopefully, I’ll be using Audio Hijack to record this week’s podcast.

Kait Sanchez, The Verge:

Somehow, perhaps by some cosmic intervention, I haven’t gotten tired of hearing Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” on the radio. Apparently, I’m not the only one because tens of thousands of people have gone to the effort of making covers of the song and uploading them to YouTube.

In celebration of its music video passing 1 billion views, YouTube and Google Creative Lab have turned all of those covers into an interactive AI experiment. “Infinite Bad Guy,” which YouTube calls “the world’s first infinite music video,” collects thousands of covers and blends them together, using machine learning to align each one within quarter-beats of the original.

Here’s a link to the “Infinite Bad Guy” page. Follow the link, let the site load, then tap the “Click to Play” button. The original video is in the middle, so tap one of the two side videos to start the ball rolling.

Play around with the interface. Don’t miss the Chiron crawl at the bottom with hashtagged keywords, like #guitar, #ukulele, #piano, and lots more.

This is a very interesting article comparing four different machines on how they tackle specific tasks using Adobe software. Definitely a test on the Pro side of things.

The four machines:

• Apple M1 MacBook Air with 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU, 16GB RAM
• Apple M1 MacBook Pro with 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU
• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, 16GB RAM
• AMD Ryzen 9 5800X, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, 64GB RAM

Note that second two machines are desktop machines, coming in at $2400 and $3500 respectively, with the last machine built with 64GB RAM. And those two desktop machines feature external GPUs.

In a nutshell, the desktop machines outperform the M1 Macs. Lots of reasons for this, and not really a fair comparison, since the Macs are laptops, and the desktop machines have discrete GPUs, and are much more expensive.

But I did find the comparison worth seeing.

From the conclusions:

From a performance standpoint, the new Apple M1 MacBooks do fairly well considering that they are using a complete processor based around the ARM instruction set and software that is likely not fully optimized yet. But compared to a typical desktop workstation from Puget Systems that is around 2-3x faster on average (albeit at a higher cost), they certainly can’t keep up.

These units only cost around $1,500 as configured, however, so the fact that they are half the performance shouldn’t be unexpected since they are also half the cost. What will be very interesting to see is how performance will shake out as Adobe improves support for native Apple Silicon and when (or if) Apple launches a higher-end laptop – or even better, a more powerful desktop variant than the Mac Mini.

That last bit sticks out to me. Will we see a higher end M1 laptop with more RAM? Will we see an M1 Mac Pro? If we do see a desktop Mac Pro, will it feature a discrete GPU?

[H/T Evadne W]

With the advent of the M1 Mac, a question that sticks in my mind is, “Is 8GB on an M1 more effective than 8GB on an Intel Mac?”

This question first emerged for me when I was deciding between an 8GB or 16GB M1. I ended up going with 16GB, but mostly driven by memories of my old 8GB Intel Mac and the constant appearance of the rainbow cursor of death until I upgraded to 16GB.

Is that still a valid worry? Is there something magic about unified memory on the M1?

If you also have this question, you might want to check out this Twitter post and, more importantly, the responses that follow.

If I had to boil it down, I’d say, if you’re ordering an M1, 8GB should be plenty, if all you do is “normal” stuff, like email, reasonably small document editing, and web browsing. If you are more of a power user, do some light programming, occasional video rendering, small Logic Pro audio projects, etc., then 16GB might be worth the investment.

And if you do anything with very large data files, such as massive photo editing, large project programming, regular large scaled video editing, you might want to wait until more memory becomes available.

That’s purely my layman’s opinion. But it’s where I’ve landed, at least at this point.

Turning to the linked article, here’s Jason Snell:

The biggest difference is that in the M1, the memory is a part of the M1 architecture itself. There’s no memory slot or slots on the motherboard of an M1 Mac, nor is there an area where a memory chip has been permanently soldered on. Instead, the memory is integrated into the same package that contains the M1 itself.

What this means is that when you buy an M1-based Mac and choose a memory configuration, that’s it. There have been many other Macs with soldered-on memory that couldn’t be upgraded, but this is a little different, since the memory is basically part of the M1 package itself.

And that explains why we’ve only got two choices when it comes to memory: 8GB or 16GB.

The M1 processor’s memory is a single pool that’s accessible by any portion of the processor. If the system needs more memory for graphics, it can allocate that. If it needs more memory for the Neural Engine, likewise. Even better, because all the aspects of the processor can access all of the system memory, there’s no performance hit when the graphics cores need to access something that was previously being accessed by a processor core. On other systems, the data has to be copied from one portion of memory to another—but on the M1, it’s just instantly accessible.

And:

What would cause your Mac to run out of physical memory? If you leave an awful lot of apps open at once, or if your browser has hundreds of tabs open, or if you’re using an app that loads a very large file (like, say, a Photoshop file) into memory. If you’re someone who does this a lot, you probably want more memory…. but then again, if you’re someone who does this a lot, you might not want to buy one an M1 Mac right now. The mid-range and high-end models that will undoubtedly offer more RAM options and more processor power are undoubtedly coming next year.

This seems right on.

That said, I’m living on my M1 MacBook Air with 16GB and I have yet to stress it in any way, doing my regular power user stuff. I’ve never done a single thing to slow it down, even running apps via Rosetta. And, as I’ve said before, the M1 is wicked fast, and the battery life is crazy good.

My experience, as a relatively early adopter of this new technology, has been aces. Zero regrets.